The Turnbull Government is seeking public comment on draft legislation for the Asia Region Funds Passport and on the tax treatment of Corporate Collective Investment Vehicle (CCIVs).
The Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, Kelly O’Dwyer, said that the passport would enable Australian funds manager to offer their products into Asia without having to go through duplicative approval processes in each economy.
The second round of consultation would help put the legislation in place in the first half of 2018 and would mean that Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Thailand would be also implementing the passport.
“It will also mean that investors will be able to access many more investment opportunities in our region through funds that are offered in Australia,” O’Dwyer said.
“CCIVs will increase the competitiveness of Australia’s managed funds industry by aligning Australia’s legal funds structures with those found in the rest of the world.”
The minister also stressed that the Australian funds market currently used unit trusts whereas the rest of the world tended to use corporate and limited partnership investment vehicles.
The proposed tax framework for the new CCIV had been designed to align with the attribution tax regime for managed investment trusts (MITs), with one of the key features of the CCIV tax regime being capital gains tax relief for attribution MITs that converted into CCIVs and met the eligibility requirements for attribution tax.
The further consultations on the regulatory aspects of the CCIV framework would be expected to take place in the first half of 2018.
